Eurasia Press & News
Macedonia’s partner countries in the Adriatic Group pledged support to country’s NATO membership aspiration, blocked by Greece over name dispute.
“Macedonia enjoys full support for NATO membership in the nearest future as we are well aware that its integration would contribute to peace and stability in the entire region,” foreign ministers of five Balkan countries said in a joint statement issued after a meeting in Sarajevo.
Albania and Croatia joined NATO in April this year, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro have become members of the NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme – the first step towards NATO membership.
Macedonia has been left out of NATO after Greece blocked its bid to join the alliance at the Bucharest summit last year.
Albania, Croatia and Macedonia signed the Adriatic Charter of Partnership for the purpose of aiding their attempts to join NATO. The Charter was signed in 2003 in Washington under the aegis of the United States. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro later joined the association, while Serbia has been granted observer status.
